MelonHead

[Ranked] 2 v 2 battle! Reapers Vs Champions; A Dance of Blades!

Well, it's about 40 feet diameter, circular, with a coridoor on the far side that Judgement popped out of and a staircase off to one side you guys came up. It has huge glass-less windows all around the area and statues dotted about the edges.

[Ranked] 2 v 2 battle! Reapers Vs Champions; A Dance of Blades!

<Snipped quote by MelonHead>

Impossible to contest it from a none standing position anyway.

Liklely excess kinetic energy tends to send thing's flying when they meet resistence. One the many things you learn from throwing fruit into the air and trying to cut it. Not as effective as when its stationary.

One day I'll try cutting a melon...

@GreivousKhan

I wonder what effect Judgement's specific strike would have though, as it isn't thrown in that overarm fashion of most strikes, it's more of a hooking motion, it could potentially impale the point into the target as the blade moves inwards towards the target.

You'll have to stab some fruit and let us know.

Arena Chat Thread

Well, save for the lower tiers, the entire point of the arena is rule of cool. Or gambits if you like winning over having fun, of which the latter should be priority anyways.

@Descartes

Unranked is definitely for rule of cool and story over technical fighting, but rule of cool is not the entire point of the Arena.

Though if you can fit something cool in, it's always worth the effort.

[Ranked] 2 v 2 battle! Reapers Vs Champions; A Dance of Blades!

I was there for the horse knife incident of 2013 (or 14) as well. I didn't think it would be horribly unreasonable to hit with at least the handle or something as it was spinning, but I forgot the distance and how skilled of a character he was at knife throwing, both of which would be very important.

@ImportantNobody

No one is all that skilled at knife throwing though, it's an unreliable skill at best, especially in that particular RP where we were supposed to be rag-tag mercenaries.

RPGuild Ranking Headquarters!

<Snipped quote by MelonHead>

Rapiers can outmatch most other swords in speed, being most dominant in the sphere they were used in. However, that isn't the only factor there is to wielding a sword, so that's why their effectiveness was only limited to unarmored duels.

EDIT: dunno why i posted this, since i'm sure you already knew that :p

@Vordak

I was under the impression that in their sphere of sword type Rapiers were one of the biggest and heaviest variants.

RPGuild Ranked Tournament

Jok is actually more explosive and trap related, though I haven't had much chance to explore either of those traits.

[Ranked] 2 v 2 battle! Reapers Vs Champions; A Dance of Blades!

I wouldn't try and contest the strike though, even as Khan said his strike is less powerful than usual, but less powerful for Judgement is still devastating in human terms.

There's pretty much one thing I can think of that would outright surprise Judgement enough that he couldn't react and allow you to cleanly dodge, it's also in my opinion the most effective tool you could have if you're going to go jumping into the air.

Arena Chat Thread

Fuck it, it still exists in PM, here you go.

Semi pretentious tips and tricks from Mr Melon

Ye Olde Board of Tips and Tricks for the Arena

The Writing Side
1. Accuracy, thoroughness and coherency are your greatest weapons in the Arena, prettying these concepts up is difficult and comes with time. Try and ensure you’ve been accurate in your description of the scene, haven’t forgot to mention any important details, and most importantly read it through from your opponent’s point of view and made sure they can understand it.

2. KISS – The beauty of the T1 system is you don’t have to try and predict any number of an opponent’s moves and write out what if clauses for every eventuality. (Though you may want to pre-empt one or two moves to worry them.) Simply ensure that your character can logically pull out of a manoeuvre with a single statement of their actions if the unexpected ensues. For example, ‘John was ready to abandon his strike at his prone opponent if he instead made any sudden movements.’ Remember though, you only have so much time to work with, if you’re mid-swing it may already be too late.

The follow up to this is that in combat, the more moves you string together the greater the opportunity you're granting your opponent to interrupt and strike you at your most vulnerable. Try not to overcomplicate your post both for ease of reading, and also to keep your cards hidden and your character safe.

3. The CS is key, remember that what you throw into that CS and post in the introduction of a fight is all your character alone has to work with. If circumstances allow, you may be able to pick up one or two advantages from the scenery, but so can your opponent, so ensure your character is thoughtfully constructed and stick to that character throughout. Magic and abilities will be a major point of contention, so remember tip 1 in the construction and you’ll be alright, though a more complex CS construction walkthrough may appear in the future.

The Combat Side
At the risk of sounding condescending, these are some tips for actual combat I’ve picked up in my lengthy years (lol, 3) fighting in post-by-post. Many of these will be contentious, and yes, there’s probably a number of exceptions to every rule.

1. Match your character carefully, this means you should be aiming to fight opponents with a character roughly within your character’s limits. Remember, this is a beginner’s guide, and ensuring you get a beneficial match-up isn’t going to be possible in a tournament setting. Ultimately, avoid bringing a grounded melee character up against someone who can fly or attack effectively from range, because the experience will likely be frustrating and un-rewarding. Some may argue that this is a learning experience, but from what I’ve seen personally it always ends with an unsatisfactory fight.

2. Don’t Jump. No, literally, probably the most common mistake on which I’ve been fortunate enough to capitalise on a number of times (and seen capitalised on, I might add.) is people considering diving into the air (usually anime style) an effective move in combat. Unless your character can control themselves in the air (and change direction) this will probably end incredibly badly, and should be avoided at all costs. Keep both feet on the ground, you can move your body freely and dodge better. Ironically acrobatic ‘speedsters’ should particularly look to avoid jumping in the air, as they tend to be at their most vulnerable.

3. Be careful with melee combat, melee combat is by far the most difficult skill to master in writing combat, especially if you’re like me with scant access to swords and spears and people who know how to use them. Read up on some of the basics of real combat before trying to use a sword, it helps a lot. Fighting hand to hand is somewhat easier, but try to dissuade yourself from flashy movie style martial arts.

4. Don’t spin around. I’ve only ever made this mistake once and it caused me more heart ache than a sick puppy (and I actually had my character spinning to generate centrifugal force). Your opponent will capitalise on it, and without the power of meta-gaming at your fingertips most characters are going to be shit outta luck.

5. Treat the Arena and its combat like an even bigger Arena. No, seriously, this is a contentious point but I would generally recommend imagining every battle like a gladiatorial contest. You’re attempting to make real gritty combat entertaining, you know what Gladiators seldom did? Tried to stab their opponent in the face the moment the battle started. If you try for deadly attacks early into a fight your opponent is –highly- likely to find any excuse to avoid it. Honestly, as the fight tends to work on an honour system of give and take you should try and wear an opponent down before going for any killing blows.

OOC Shiz
1. First rule, be respectful to your opponents, and I mean this in IC as well. For some strange reason (and I’m sure I’ve been guilty of this in the past, though I’ve been working on it.) Arena denizens have a bad habit of insulting the person behind the character in fights. They know exactly what they’re doing, no one is fooled, if you find yourself typing ‘Couldn’t quite believe the stupidity of blocking that move with’ you’re probably not in character anymore. This is a fine line to tread, and may seem trivial, but I’ve seen some Arena fighters who other people (not me, I have authority issues) have called respected and experienced essentially come to verbal blows over this shit. Not even joking.

2. Arguments will happen. If it’s an unranked fight, try and look past the conflict and compromise for the greater good of both of your entertainment and enjoyment. If it’s ranked, seek a judge as soon as possible, an unbiased reading is the fairest and most effective way to clear up any issues. I’ve argued until my fingers have metaphorically bled, and honestly I have no idea why, this is the freaking internet. No one is likely to admit their wrong doing in a ranked Arena battle, so have a judge mediate.

Arena Chat Thread

I actually sent Rilla a PM with every trick and tip I had for newcomers months ago, he never bothered putting it into the FAQ section though ;(

[Ranked] 2 v 2 battle! Reapers Vs Champions; A Dance of Blades!

<Snipped quote by MelonHead>

Ya, looking back I see Whatshisface (I know who did it but I wont mention their name, they've changed it now anyway) was totally in the wrong. Assuming his knife did hit, he was stilling going to get buried under hundreds of pounds of horse meat. Which we kind of agreed on anyway, but oh well.

One day I'm going to try that group on group Chivalry style battle again. Hopefully an actual judges will help it last to the end.

@GreivousKhan

I'd definitely be up for it, maybe mix up the period a little and go for an Ancient World battle or even Dark Ages? Could be interesting.